My Stepbrother, His Highness: A Royal Stepbrother Billionaire Bad Boy Romance

by Victoria Cabot

  I looked around the room, immediately deciding that I wouldn’t be bringing any girl there. The bed was so small I wondered how the hell I’d fit in there, and I could already see it crashing to the floor if I, ahem, tested it further. Besides, I wasn’t really sure how Becca would feel if I stumbled through the front door as drunk as a lord, a stripper or two under my arms.

  There were a few paintings hanging on the wall, which I presumed to be Becca’s work - I could remember something about her being an Art student or whatever. There was also a small balcony that overlooked the yard; curious, I stepped outside, squinting my eyes as the sun beat down on me. Down below a bunch of kids stood around the wreck that was the swimming pool, wandering in and out of it mindlessly. The fat kid, Tommy, looked up and, seeing me, flipped me the finger. I waved at him and showed him my middle finger too. Yeah, I could see the locals were already loving me.

  Now all I had to do was find out where the closest bar was.

  4

  Becca

  That fucking asshole!

  That’s all that went through my mind as I slammed his door shut and stalked outside to look again at the devastation that Silas had caused. Most people, when they plan on coming over, they get a cab from the airport and then knock on people’s doors. But Prince Asshole? No, that’s too beneath him. He has to fucking skydive out of God knows what and crash into the one above ground pool that existed on the block that Tommy and his friends could have used.

  I stepped outside. Most of the water had already been drunk up by the hungry and parched ground. The cement was wet, and the remains of the pool sat like a hulking, broken alien spacecraft – crash landed onto the planet.

  Kind of like Silas, crash landed into the world the rest of us lived in from his place high up in the clouds.

  I shuddered to myself thinking about what I had seen of Silas so far.

  I hated him!

  He was 6 foot 4 inches of giant man - his body composed of pure muscle. And those muscles were cut and defined like I couldn’t believe when I saw him in his room. I could see his shoulder deltoid muscles crease and define itself when he was just sitting there. I could see his individual muscles on his forearm twitch and work in concert with his body - that's how cut he was.

  His biceps were amazing. If fact, his entire upper torso was like something a Greek God would have created on his best day. His abs were hard, defined and spoke of raw, physical power.

  His legs were powerful. His ass was amazing.

  It was positively insane. I shouldn’t be thinking about my stepbrother’s body like that!

  But my mind went back to his his pecs, that were, like the rest of his body: Hard, defined, and smooth. If he were to lay down, I could have used his chest as a plate.

  His face. Jesus. That stubble that still let me see that strong, prominent, D’Avington chin. That jawline.

  1900 years of genetic purity had made some intense man-candy. I didn’t know where to covertly stare first when I was in his room. Those two dimples on each cheek? Those icy blue eyes? That short cropped brownish blonde hair? That aristocratic nose?

  “Tommy, be careful!” I yelled out. Already I could see Tommy and his friends peering into the pool, trying to climb through certain parts, as if explorers in a cave. Their minds began to wander and invent games to play with the misshapen object. I had seen Tommy raise up his middle finger upwards, to where Silas’ room was earlier. I hadn’t berated him, but I felt a pang of sorrow for the little pudgy kid – someone had come out of nowhere and broken his toy.

  I would never admit it to anybody, but I had asked Mother several times to be able to dispose of the above-ground pool and replace it with one built into the ground. She had never relented. What, did we want to all of a sudden flaunt our wealth and live better than the neighbors? Funny stuff, coming from the woman who was now elevated to Queen of St. Penares.

  I wondered now if Silas was the right excuse to be able to finally get rid of this hulking container of water and replace it with something a bit nicer.

  My thoughts were interrupted when my phone started ringing.

  “Hello?” I answered.

  “Ah, Princess Becca,” I heard the distinct off-English voice on the other end of the line. “This is Pearson calling from Prince Silas’ retinue. I just wanted to let you know that the Prince is, uhmm, on his way…”

  I didn’t let the man finish. “Yeah, Pearson, he’s arrived already. Made quite the entrance.”

  There was a pause. “That’s what I was afraid of. I trust everyone is all right?”

  “As alright as they’re ever going to be around Prince Asshole.”

  There was a sigh on the other end as he took in my words. “I take it the reunion was less than ecstatic.” When I didn’t answer, anger holding my tongue, he continued. “I’ll be at the Hilton By the Arch for the remainder of his stay along with members of his retinue, and shall drop by time to time. If you need anything at all yourself, I wanted to let you know to please avail yourself of my services.”

  Great. The Prince’s cleanup guy was commiserating with me. I thanked him and he told me he’d already contacted Silas and would most likely be over tomorrow morning before hanging up. I sighed and looked over at Tommy – he and his friends really had nothing to be afraid of – they were more than capable of playing in the broken pool. It was sagging downwards as well – its wooden beams now broken and unable to create a structure. I’d deal with it in the evening, or when Pearson came by tomorrow morning to clean up whatever else Prince Trouble may have done.

  My mind wandered over to my stepbrother. Try as much as I wanted, I couldn’t get his remarkable body out of my mind. Those gorgeous muscles. Those deep, piercing, mysterious eyes. That shock of stubble – so rugged and dangerous. Those tattoos – whatever reason he had got them for made him look so amazingly dangerous. I could feel my panties get a bit wet just thinking about those big, strong, muscular arms, those pecs and those abs.

  Unlike Tommy, I couldn’t help myself and noticed his skydiving suit as he had emerged from the broken pool. I saw how it clung to his tight body. The muscles were good enough and got everybody’s attention – but my eyes had darted downwards – to the bulge that existed between his legs. I shuddered at the thought of what appeared to be an unreasonably large cock. God, it had to be at least nine inches. At least.

  Imagining that large cock pumping into me with those powerful legs, rippling with muscles was enough to make me blush and send shivers of pleasure up and down my spine.

  Get a grip on yourself, girl. He’s your stepbrother!

  I had to get my mind off of Prince Stepbrother if I was going to be able to share the same roof with him.

  I tried not think about his cultured, off-English accent when he spoke.

  I needed to re-focus. Fast.

  I took my portable easel and canvas and paint kit and went upstairs, leaving Tommy and his friends to continue to explore the ruins of the once beloved pool.

  I went to the balcony and put everything down. I could hear the Prince down the hall, talking to Pearson. He was ensuring him that everything had happened with great success. If ‘great success’ meant the disruption of several lives, that statement was spot on.

  I saw Silas exit through the back patio to survey the damage he had created and angrily got my mind off thoughts of his body. I had kept my virginity for the last two decades and change by focusing on the important things in life – not on immediate pleasures – and I wasn’t going to toss it all away for my spoiled stepbrother.

  I angrily began throwing paint onto the canvas, letting my unconscious mind take over the formation of the paint into pictures.

  I saw Tommy turn around and look at Silas as the latter set foot onto the grass. Despite his earlier anger, it seemed Tommy looked at Silas with fear this time around.

  “Please don’t break the rest of it!” he wailed, afraid that Silas had come to finish the job that he had started.

  This seem
ed to take Silas aback.

  “Hey, little mate,” he said, crouching down to Tommy’s level. From my vantage point, my heart skipped. Silas looked, with his rippling back muscles, like a crouching tiger, able to unleash vast quantities of violence at a moment’s notice. Yet he kept it perfectly in check, as he engaged in a conversation with a pudgy little kid. “Sorry about your little pool, there.”

  Tommy turned towards him, not believing what was coming out of Silas’ mouth.

  “How about I make it up to you and your friends?” Silas asked.

  Tommy didn’t know what to say and waited patiently to listen to Silas finish the rest of his offer. My ears paid attention as well, ready to step in if I needed to. The last thing I needed was for Prince Pervert to take a toddler and his friends to a bar or strip club.

  “I’ll get you guys a real pool,” Silas began. “They’ll come by to start building it tonight or this afternoon.”

  Tommy remained silent. Silas seeing he needed more, continued. “In the meantime, who likes pizza and ice cream?”

  Tommy’s eyes sparked. “Me!” he said in chorus with his friends who had come to listen to Silas’ peace offering.

  “Great. I’ll ask my man to order us some pizza and a tub of ice cream for you gents,” Silas said to them. They began to nod in unison. I smiled to myself. When the kids asked me for snacks, I generally only had some carrots and celery sticks - it was the healthier option – but I was okay to let the rules slide for one afternoon.

  “So you’ll get a brand new pool with a…” Silas trailed off, waiting for Tommy and the others to give their preferences. I put my brushes down and went to the railing of the balcony to listen in to the conversation happening below me, my heart fluttering a bit at what I was hearing.

  “A slip-n-slide!” shouted one.

  “A diving board!” shouted another.

  “A waterfall!” Tommy exclaimed.

  “Okay, okay, let’s see a pool, with a slip-n-slide, a diving board, and a waterfall. Let’s toss in some water jets too, huh? For some water wars?” Silas asked.

  “Yeah!!” the kids shouted. “Water wars!”

  Silas stood pulled out his phone and I saw him dial a speed dial. “Hey Pearson, how’s it going mate?” he asked by way of greeting. “Listen, I have some young subjects here who are rightly peeved at me and I need you to send over five large pepperoni…” Silas looked over at the kids and I could see him count the kids, including Tommy. “Make that six large pepperoni pies and get me some soda and a gallon of vanilla ice cream.”

  The kids cheered, dancing around Silas. “And find me a contractor. Tell him to come survey Becca’s house. We want to replace the pool with either concrete or fiberglass and have it in-ground.” The kids looked in awe at Silas. “We want a slip-n-slide coming down ten feet, a diving board, a waterfall, and two or three water jets around the pool for some water wars.”

  I smiled when I saw the look of adoration replace the look of pure hatred that I had seen earlier on Tommy’s face. Prince Asshole was now transformed into Prince Rescue.

  “They’ll be over in an hour? Sounds perfect, mate. Listen, find me something to drink too, will you, this place is drier than an old hooker’s….” Silas looked around at the children all looking to him and cleared his throat. “Never mind. Just get me something to take the edge off, will you?”

  Satisfied with his response, he hung up. He got back into a crouch and looked straight at Tommy. “Tommy, my man, I’m sorry for wrecking your pool. But I can try to make it up to you by getting you a much newer one. I hope you’ll forgive me?” Silas stuck out his hand and Tommy, after a moment’s hesitation took it. The two shook and I smiled to myself.

  “Now, who likes guns and maybe one day wants to go to a shooting range?” Silas asked.

  At the moment, the kids would have been ready to follow Silas to the depths of Hell had he asked them to. Buying a pool was one thing. Having kids go shooting guns with someone asking his personal manservant to bring him whiskey was completely another, in my mind. I couldn’t allow this.

  The problem was I was leaning so far over the railing and when I took a step back quickly, I tripped in my haste. The railing was only waist high, and with nothing to catch myself, my upper body did a pivot and I went over the railing, falling to the ground.

  Oh please, this cannot be happening to me! I’m falling off the balcony and I’m going to die looking like an idiot!

  My brain began to panic and I grabbed for something – anything. I couldn’t find anything to stop my fall and it all started happening faster than I could comprehend.

  The world started looking upside down to me and the ground began to rush up against me. In a split second I realized I was heading down and my head would make contact with the concrete in maybe two or three seconds, if that.

  I don’t know where I found the time to scream. Or if I had already been screaming since I had first fallen. I didn’t know if anyone could hear me. I closed my eyes, seeing the concrete of the patio coming up. I knew it was over for me and this was it. They were either going to be scraping me off or I was going to be paralyzed.

  And then I felt the ground and realized I was no longer moving. My eyes were shut, as if closing them would keep away the pain that was going to be coursing through my body. I wondered if I was dead.

  I couldn’t move.

  Why can’t I move my arms or legs?!

  Something squeezed my whole body and I told myself that I should probably open my eyes. Wondering what I’d find, a second later, I opened my eyes and saw the sky. I looked around in panic, fear of where I was now replacing the fear of impact.

  I looked to my left side. I was in the air and could see the ground below me. I began to look to my right side, and saw Silas looking down at me – his face in a smirk. I looked around. He was holding me in his big arms, smiling as if I was weightless.

  Did Silas just catch me?

  “Seems you had quite a fall there, love,” Silas said with a smirk. “Looks like I must have really swept you off your feet, huh?”

  5

  Silas

  Sometimes I'm a really soft guy. I can't fight it, really. So how else to repay the young tribe of kids if not with a brand new swimming pool? It was working too - hate had been replaced with adoration, however misplaced.

  Then I noticed something from the corner of my eye - a shadow moving too fast, a blur of colors. My heart pumped adrenaline into my veins and I no longer was in a quiet and peaceful suburban corner of America. I was somewhere far away, somewhere that still haunted me. I turned on my heels as fast as lightning, and ran all the distance between the yard and the house in two wide steps. I didn't really know what I was doing, I was acting on instinct alone. When I noticed Becca's body leaning over the balcony and falling, my arms were already extended to catch her.

  My heart skipped a beat as she tumbled down, her head pointed straight at the floor. I didn't even have time to mouth an honest-to-God "fuck" - I opened my legs wide, let the weight of my body fall on my knees and allowed my reflexes to take control of my arms.

  She fell in my arms like a rock and I exhaled sharply. A fraction of a second later and she would have hit the concrete face first. I could already envision a broken neck or worse. I gritted my teeth and breathed out once more, trying to make all the adrenaline vanish. Soon I was almost back to my normal self, Becca's wide eyes fixed on mine.

  I smirked at her and, with a wink, let my usual charm shine through.

  "Seems you had quite a fall there, love. Looks like I must have really swept you off your feet, huh?"

  She was speechless at first - and no wonder, after such a close brush with death - but then bit down her lower lip and mouthed a scared but heartfelt "thank you." I let her down easily, noticing how she was shaking, more adrenaline than she could handle still running through her body.

  "Hey. Sit down," I told her, grabbing her hand and pushing her to the floor. Her knees buckled under her weight an
d she fell like a crumpled plastic bag. I kneeled in front of her, my eyes on her. "It's alright. I got you."

  She closed her eyes and ran trembling fingers through her hair, breathing in and out at a steadier pace. When she opened her eyes there was a hint of a smile on her face.

  "You're still an asshole," she whispered at me.

  "And you're beautiful," I said, smiling at her and getting up on my feet.

  She blinked in surprise. I smiled. “Had I known what kind of body you had, love, I would have come calling long ago.”

  What the hell was I thinking? Complimenting me stepsister on her body!

  "See? Asshole." I gave her my hand and, taking it, she lifted herself up from the floor.

  I shrugged at her words and winked at her once more, feeling the rush of adrenaline slowly dying on my body. I had jumped from an airplane and crash landed in a disastrous way and, still, that felt like nothing compared to when I saw her almost tumble down to her death. Instinct had taken over, and that wasn't really a pleasant feeling. Sure, it got the job done... But reacting like that, on instinct alone, brought a few unpleasant memories.

  Still, it had been worth it. Having her on my arms felt right, somehow. She felt so small against my chest and, in that moment, almost frail. I couldn't help but feel a deeper craving inside of me as the gentle curves of her body rested perfectly in my arms, her whole body so damn close to me.

  With one more thin smile, Becca turned on her heels and went inside the house, probably to calm herself down with a bit more of privacy. I stared as she walked inside, her hips swaying and calling to me... There was a fire that was starting to burn inside of me, and that wasn't good. I needed to deal with that fast - I mentally prescribed myself some aged scotch and women of questionable reputation. Doctor's orders, I told myself.

  I was becoming somewhat lost in a whirlpool of thoughts that involved something very indecent when I felt someone tugging at my pants. I looked down and there he was - little chubby Tommy, looking at me as if I had flown down from the heavens with a cape on my back.